I fell off a cliff (literally) and into my life!
They call it Meditation Rock, I call it Miracle Rock. Beautiful,
serene and the perfect place to sit quietly, read and pray.
That's just what I did - until I fell off it. It was a twenty
three foot drop with a rock-solid landing. Ten broken bones,
three broken teeth, four years and a whole new life later I'm
ready to tell my story.
Long ago I knew I wanted to be a camp counselor in the
spectacular mountains of Colorado. I wasn't a big fan of my
college. The only thing I liked about it was the giant bean bag
chair that I crashed on in my dorm. I had to get out of there. I
applied to the perfect camp and sat by the phone for weeks
waiting for my acceptance call. Rejection was not what I
expected, but it is what I got. Angry at God I begrudgingly
headed to a smaller camp in Maine - a state I hadn't heard of
since my 6th grade geography class. Little did I know I would
fall in love...with Maine, with Matt and with the Lord. Let's
start with the Lord. We met at Chop Point camp. We had been
acquaintances for a long time, but it was there that our true
relationship began. I'd wake up early, drudge my way up a windy
path and crawl under Meditation Rock. There were a lot of jagged
rocks under Meditation rock but there was one smooth, flat rock
that was perfect for quiet times. That is, of course, when the
tide was out - otherwise it was covered in water. It was there,
on that special rock that I discovered the Word was living and
active and that, it applied to my life! I visited this special
spot regularly over the next four years. Speaking of special, a
particular young man caught my eye one summer at Chop Point. One
that I just knew was the one for me. I'm told I called his name
out over and over when they found me broken beneath the rock. He
wasn't the man, however, that drove an hour every day for a
month to visit me in the hospital. No, I broke up with that man
long ago. He wasn't the one for me. I knew best. So there, I lay
beneath Meditation rock bleeding and murmuring this other young
man's name over and over again. I'm told I whispered "help me
sweet Jesus" a few times between the painfully embarrassing
displays of emotion. Over an hour later I was life-flighted to
the Central Maine Medical Center where I under went 18 hours of
surgery. I remember none of this. The first thing I remember is
my friend Matt, the one I'd broken up with long ago, sneaking me
a sip of water when the doctors were looking the other way. I
was dying of thirst and they would only give me ice chips! I
spent more than a month in the hospital. I was blessed to be
alive. Somehow, miraculously, I did not land on the dangerously
jagged rocks, but on the one flat rock I had spent so much time
on. Not only that, but the angle of the rock I landed on leaned
toward the water. I managed to roll up the rock. I should have
rolled off and drowned. I did however, shatter my knee, break my
femur in three places, destroy my hip, crush my wrist and spit
out a few pieces of my back teeth (into Matt's hands). But, I
was alive and had no damage to my head, neck or back. The
recovery period was still quite the process. It took years.
People thought I would get depressed right away, but I didn't. I
was surrounded by loving family and friends for months. Then my
world began to fall apart. The reality of the recovery time hit
me and in the meantime life wasn't giving me any breaks. That
special young man got engaged (and not to me), my grandfather
passed away and my uncle committed suicide. I was a wreck.
Totally and completely depressed. I did find a job I had wanted
all my life - a youth director. But, I was so discouraged that I
couldn't keep it up. I had no idea what to do with my life. Once
again I found myself questioning God. I began to make lists of
things that I loved. A funny thing came to mind. Bean Bag
Chairs. I was infatuated with the huge bean bag chair I had in
college. I even got a job selling them my sophomore year. Every
time I thought about what I wanted to do for a living the word
bean bag popped into my head. Though it felt crazy, I decided to
call my old boss and tell him how I was feeling. He suggested
that I start selling his bean bag chairs in Maine for a 20%
commission. I gave it a try. That Christmas I decided to sell
the bean bags at a small strip mall. I set up a tiny little
business in a back corner. The business consisted of one
employee (me) and three bean bag chairs. Then Matt came along.
Again. He just happened to be an artist and somewhat of a
perfectionist. He encouraged me fix up the corner, build
www.heavenlybeanbags.com, print business cards and pricelists.
He also began (or maybe I should say continued) to pursue me
relentlessly. Over time I noticed some pretty amazing qualities
in Matt. These qualities won my heart. We have been married for
two years now and I'm still not sure when the honeymoon is going
to end. As our love grew, Heavenly Bean Bags also blossomed.
Eventually we started making the bean bags in Maine and adding
all sorts of new features (like removable, washable covers). We
set up at the same little strip mall every Christmas Season.
Although the business venture kept us incredibly busy, we knew
that Matt's art was a talent that we did not want to let go of.
Matt and I saved some money and made prints of his work. We
rented 40 feet of space from the same little mall and started
something totally new. We gathered the work of local Christian
artists, including potters, photographers, jewelers, painters,
stained glass artisans, and furniture makers (bean bags
included) and sold them on consignment. We fell in love with the
idea of supporting Christian artists and now we are going to
pursue it full time. Tomorrow, we're signing a contract with the
biggest mall in Maine, the Maine Mall. We are opening our own
store, Genesis Guild. Genesis Guild will specialize in Maine
Crafted Home Decor items made by Christians!
So here I am at two o'clock in the morning thinking over what
God has done in my life over the past four years. I had it all
figured out. I was going to a camp in Colorado, working with
youth and marrying "the man of my dreams". But God had a
different plan. I went to a camp in Maine, fell off Miracle
rock, married a wonderful (but real) man, started a bean bag
business and am about to open a store in the biggest mall in
Maine! Although it was incredibly hard at times, I thank God
that I fell off a cliff and into my life!